PWM Based Speed Control for DC Motors
There are several methods for controlling the speed of DC motors. One simple method is to add series resistance using a rheostat. As considerable power is consumed in the rheostat, this method is not economical. Another method is to use a series switch that can be closed/opened rapidly. This type of control is termed as chopper control. We’ve described here a PWM-based chopper circuit that smoothly controls the speed of general-purpose DC motors. Fig.1: Block diagram of PWM-based speed controller Fig. 1 shows the block diagram of a basic PWM-based chopper. The circuit shown in Fig. 2 is designed as per this diagram. A dual timer IC (NE556) is used to configure both the astable as well as the monostable multivibrator. Timing components for the astable are chosen to provide a frequency of 546 Hz, while the monostable components are selected to obtain a maximum pulsewidth of 2.42 ms. Diode D1 improves duty factor of the astable oscillator output, whereas D2 acts as a free-wheeling diode. ...